AHSU Closes, Huntington to Teach Out

[Albert Hidel]

The following notice from the State of Colorado was provided by DETC in response to inquiries as to the status of American Health Science University:

Notice of School Closure

Effective January 11, 2008, American Health Sciences University (AHSU) has closed and ceased operations.  AHSU has elected to resign its accreditation status with the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), effective January 12, 2008.  The best option available to students actively enrolled in ASHU and the Certified Nutritionist or the Masters Program is to continue their course of studies through what is called a “Teach-Out Agreement”.  AHSU has entered into a Teach-Out Agreement with Huntington College of Health Sciences, an accredited institution recognized by DETC.  Under this agreement Huntington will accept AHSU students into its institution in order for ASHU students to continue their education, without additional cost for which the student has already contracted.  

You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to continue and complete your education, at no additional cost with Huntington beyond what you already agreed to under your original ASHU enrollment agreement for completion of the CN or Masters program.

For information and questions about the transfer process, please contact the following representatives with Huntington:  Eva Schmidt and Terry Curran at empickett@msn.com, and terrycurran@comcast.net, respectively.  Leave a name and phone number and they will put you in their queue for return calls.  You may also call Huntington’s Registrar, Cheryl Freeman, at 800-290-4226, who can assist you.  

In addition, the State of Colorado encourages you to contact it for information and your student options brought about by AHSU closure and this “Teach Out” Agreement with Huntington.  You can reach Jim Parker, Director of the Division of Private Occupational Schools, Colorado Department of Higher Education at:  303-866-2723, or jim.parker@cche.state.co.us.

Transcripts:  Students wishing to obtain a copy of their transcript may contact the Division of Private Occupational Schools, Colorado Department of Higher Education, 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 1200, Denver, Colorado 80204, (303) 866-2723, Fax: (303) 866-4237.

This shows that even accredited schools can leave their students "orphaned" when they fold.  A degree from a defunct school--that can be verified only with some difficulty if at all--is hardly any better than a milled degree (many of which are easily "verified" by the vendor).  It's good the DETC has teach-out provisions in place, but the institutional instability reflected by these sudden departures suggest that accreditation by itself is not an accurate measure of a school's current or future economic viability.

[Herbert Spencer]

This shows that even accredited schools can leave their students "orphaned" when they fold.  A degree from a defunct school--that can be verified only with some difficulty if at all--is hardly any better than a milled degree (many of which are easily "verified" by the vendor).  It's good the DETC has teach-out provisions in place, but the institutional instability reflected by these sudden departures suggests that accreditation by itself is not an accurate measure of a school's current or future economic viability.

Interesting to note that as AHSU bows out, Hawthorn University is applying for DETC accreditation with a very similar curriculum.  

Other current health or fitness oriented DETC applicants include the National Institute of Whole Health, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, International Sports Sciences Association,  American Fitness Professionals and Associates, and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.  Health and fitness seem to be growth industries, at least insofar as online education is concerned.  Which makes AHSU's demise all the more puzzling.

As you noted, accreditation does not equate with long term financial stability.  The big buck RA schools with the billion dollar endowments obviously are going to be around for centuries, but the small time programs offer no such assurances.  Financial info on non-profits and publicly traded companies is readily available.  But unless you have access to a D&B report, for the in-between types (private, for-profit) it's tougher for the average person to get meaningful financial info.  You certainly don't see any of them posting their financial statements on their websites.  

It's funny how you can't buy into a donut franchise or a limited partnership investment without an inch thick stack of financial disclosures, but you can literally mortgage your future for hundreds of thousand of dollars of education without even a single sentence from the school about its finances.

If the government (or its quasi-governmental agencies) is truly going to undertake to "protect" us defenseless and simple-minded members of the public, it would make sense that they require some sort of financial disclosure by the school.  That they don't is just more evidence of how the education cartel is in bed with their supposed masters.

[Albert Hidel]

Here is the latest from Dr. James R. Johnston on the AHSU situation, from an email sent to students today:

An Update about the New AmericanHealthScienceUniversity and the CN Certified Nutritionist Community

February 20, 2008

Greetings.

First off and officially we have received hundreds of requests for information about further licensing and continuing education since our move from Denver and the misinformation about AHSU closing its doors. We have not close our doors in fact opened them wider especially for the CN Certified Nutritionist community.

AHSU will continue to administer the CN Certified Nutritionist Private License Comprehensive Examination as we have since 1985, the necessary Externship for those sitting for that examination, the annual CN Certified Private Licensing program and the annual professional continuing education program required.  

The CN Certified Nutritionist federal trade mark established in 1983 is still valid and can legally be used only by those who maintain their CN Certified Nutritionist annual licensing and continuing education requirements. The licensing examination is separate from the courses and has always been independent of state licensing and national accreditation.

My choosing to terminate AHSU's membership from the national accrediting agency resulted in the state closing our Colorado offices "because we were not nationally accredited." The irony is that when we sought national accreditation in the 1980s we were told that we couldn't get accredited unless we were licensed in Colorado! Catch 22?

We were also forced to transfer our student body to Huntington College of Health Sciences so they could complete their courses from an accredited institution as they had contracted to do. For the most part the students transfer was done smoothly. Students we now enroll will do so with the understanding that we are not presently accredited as part of the enrollment contract. We are seeking accreditation that more clearly meets our needs and that we can afford.

I plan to continue our excellent academic tradition. In our 28 some years of involvement in teaching distance education courses nationally and internationally our academic record has been unblemished never having a serious complaint filed against us at the national or state level. There are few schools that could touch that record and I am proud of that.

Our decision to resign from the DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) had more to do with questioning the requirement that all schools of every size from the giants to the very small schools maintain the same standards was the cause of our resignation.

There is just no way that smaller organizations can maintain the same standards as large organizations especially when large organizations pretty much set the standards.

Our academic programs continue to include: the 6 course, CN Certified Nutritionist Program federally trademarked since 1983; the 12 course masters level program with its focus on Nutrition Science (one of the most rigorous masters program around we are told); 3 new masters level courses and 3 new intermediate NIS (Nutritional Information Specialist) courses developed in 2007 and our CBET  (Coding, Billing and Electronic Transfer) course being updated.

AHSU is now using this as their contact info:

The Institute of American Health and Science
585 Birch St
Oak Harbor, WA 98277-9444
Phone: (360) 240-0521

This appears to be a residential address.  

Dr. Johnston seems to be trying to put a positive spin on this, but it can't be good for holders of the CN designation for the granting institution to be going from nationally accredited to unaccredited.  

This is particularly true given the wellspring of institutional competitors noted in the previous post, plus the proliferation of rival designations (e.g., HNCB, CBNS).

But his commentary on the financial aspects of accreditation is interesting. ("There is just no way that smaller organizations can maintain the same standards as large organizations especially when large organizations pretty much set the standards.")  It's another instance of the "Golden Rule" in action, meaning that the guys with the gold make the rules.   He didn't specifically say "wealthy, entrenched education cartel" like we see written here so often, but clearly that's who he's talking about.

It also will be interesting to see what, if any, accreditation they wind up with in the future ("We are seeking accreditation that more clearly meets our needs and that we can afford.")  Affordable accreditation for small or startup operations has long been an oxymoron, one of the many obvious flaws in the current accreditation system.